Sermon Manuscript

[Video: “Chase the Podium - Bumper” - 0:30]

Last Sunday morning while we were in church together there was a gold medal game taking place in men’s hockey between Team USA and Canada.  It was a huge game.  Because the United States had not won a gold medal in men’s hockey since the miracle on ice which had taken place 46 years before in 1980 when the US team beat the heavily favored Soviet team.

And if you saw the game you know it was a real “nail biter”.  Early on the game was extremely physical and both teams struggled to score.  Team USA even struggled to get a shot off.  But in the first period with 14 minutes left Matt Boldly took the puck and kind of lifted up and pushed it ahead of two defenders, then grabbed it right in front of the goal, and kind of pushed it to the side to score enabling Team USA to go up 1-0.  It was an amazing play and an amazing shot that is so crazy that every time I watch it even now I think, “How did he do that?”  It was crazy.  But then with about 2 minutes left in the second period Team Canada scored to make it 1-1.  And in the third period both teams tried to score but were unable to do so forcing overtime.

Then as overtime started they changed it up.  Typically, hockey is played 5 on 5.  But in overtime it moves to 3 on 3.  And I read that it does this for a couple of reasons.  First of all, it creates more scoring chances because there’s less confusion on the ice.  Second, it helps to prevent long, exhausting, games because in the tournament you have to play many games.  And third it matches modern international rules.  And so they moved to 3 on 3.  And with only a couple of minutes into it, Jack Hughes who plays for the New Jersey Devils in the NHL took the puck and shot it quickly and scored!  It was the score that won the game for the United States team and broke the streak of having not won a gold medal for 46 years.  Incredible!

But as amazing as the two goals were for Team USA, if you saw the game you know that the real hero of the team was their goalie named Connor Hellebuyk.  Connor plays for the Winnipeg Jets in the NHL but in that gold medal game he had 41 saves!  41 different times when shots were made he stopped them.  It was a gold medal performance and it sets a new standard of greatness.  You could even call it a “gold-standard of greatness.”

And this morning we wrap up our series called Chase the Podium where over the past few weeks we have been learning together about how we can become better witnesses for Jesus and like an Olympic athlete chase the podium.  Olympic athletes work and train hard in order to one day stand on that podium, receive their gold medal, and hear their names called as they listen to the national anthem.  And we want to do the same.  We want to work hard for Jesus and to play hard for Him so that one day we might stand before Him and receive our prize.

And so three weeks ago we began this series by learning about our need to receive the power to perform.  The Holy Spirit.  Jesus promised His disciples they would receive it and told them they would need it to be His witnesses.  Then in week two we examine our need to rise to the occasion.  We watched as a man named Peter, empowered by the Holy Spirit, stood up and preached Jesus.  And as a result 3,000 people were saved.  Then last week we examined how we need to be clutch when it counts.  Because Peter, after healing a man who had been lame from birth, used that miracle as an opportunity to speak about Jesus.  When a crowd gathered around him and John and were impressed by the miracle he had performed he didn’t draw attention to himself and his power or his abilities.  He explained to them that what had taken place had been done in the name of Jesus.  It was in the name of Jesus.

That’s key.  Because as Acts chapter 4 opens up, what we discover is that while many were impressed by the miracle and were searching for the meaning behind it some were not.  They were the religious leaders within Judaism.  And it is this group of people who will become upset and try to stop what was taking place.  So let’s go back into this same story and see what takes place next.  Because what we will discover is that the message Peter speaks contains some important truths for our lives which will help us become better witnesses for Jesus.

So let’s get started.  If you have your Bibles, turn with me now to Acts chapter 4.  Today we’re going to be in verses 1-22.  If you would like to follow along with us online you can do so by using our app called Church Center.  Simply open it and click on Sunday Services followed by Message Notes and you will find everything that you need.  

Alright.  So with that being said, let’s jump right into our story.  Remember.  Peter has just spoken to the crowd gathered there about the miracle that took place.  Then in Acts chapter 4, beginning in verse 1, we read this.  Luke writes:

1 And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, 2 greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. 3 And they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. 4 But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand. 5 On the next day their rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem, 6 with Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family. 7 And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, “By what power or by what name did you do this?” 8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, 9 if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, 10 let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. 11 This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. 12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

Alright.  So while Peter was speaking to the people a group of religious leaders heard what’s going on and became “greatly annoyed” according to verse 2.  The Greek word means that they became upset and “disturbed”.  Why?  Because we’re told that Peter and John were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead.  The Sadducees, as some of you might be aware, did not believe in the resurrection of the dead.  The Pharisees did but the Sadducees did not.  You can always remember that because that’s why they were “sad you see”.  They didn’t believe in the resurrection.  But all of them did not believe in Jesus.  The priest, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees.  All of them believed that Jesus was a rogue teacher who claimed to be God and was responsible for leading many astray.  So now that Peter and John are claiming that the miracle they just performed was done in that very name, it was just too much.  And they were angry and wanted to intimidate them and get them to stop.  So they arrested them and put them in jail overnight.  But despite this attempt to intimidate many did believe in Jesus.  Verse 4 mentions that 5,000 men did.  So if that’s 5,000 more, because 3,000 were saved on the Day of Pentecost, then the Church has grown to well over 8,000 because this is just the total of the men who believed on that day.  The Church is growing by leaps and bounds.  It has quickly become an unstoppable force.  And so these Jewish religious leaders, seeing all of this take place, became jealous and wanted to stop it.

And on the next day they gathered together to do so.  It was a group of people who were called the Sanhedrin.  The Sanhedrin was a group of about 70 men who were the religious elite within Judaism.  They were composed of the High Priest as well as the chief priests, the elders, the scribes, and some of the Pharisees and Sadducees.   And their job was to be the highest ruling body in Jerusalem.  They functioned like the supreme religious court.  So kind of like our Supreme Court except that they primarily dealt with religious issues and they were still under the authority of the Roman government.  But that’s who they were as they gathered together.

And so as they came together they put Peter and John into their “midst”.  Did you notice that?  They put them in the “middle”.  I don’t know if that was normal or not.  But it sounds like it would be very intimidating, right?  I mean to have 70 elite people surrounding you listening to every word you speak and watching everything you do!  That sounds pretty intimidating to me!  And so notice what they ask them.  They get right to the point and say, “By what power or by what name did you do this?”  They want to know.  How did these guys do this?  Was this some sort of magic trick?  Did they call upon some sort of spiritual force?  What did they do to do this?

Verse 8 then tells us Peter, “filled with the Holy Spirit” (that’s a phrase by the way that will be found throughout the book of Acts representing a special filling of God’s Spirit for a very special and important moment), said, “Rulers of the people and elders, if we are being asked about what was done to a crippled man and why what means this man was healed then let it be known to all of you that it was done by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.  And it was this Jesus whom you crucified but whom God has raised up from the dead.  And it is this Jesus who has become the stone which the builders rejected and which now has become a cornerstone.”  That’s a quote from Psalm 118:22.  And it’s a quote that was so important to the New Testament authors that it was found 5 other times.  So six times in the New Testament that one verse is quoted and used to speak about Jesus.  Matthew, Mark, Luke, Paul, and Peter all quote that one verse to refer to Jesus.  And so why was it so important?  Because it refers to who Jesus is.  He is the “cornerstone” or the perfect stone that is placed first in order to make sure that the foundation of our faith is both solid, secure, and perfectly aligned with God.  In other words, our faith must be built upon Jesus.  He is that sure foundation and the New Testament authors saw that and used that to speak about Jesus.

But then Peter says something here that was truly amazing.  It’s Acts 4:12.  This is a verse that every single one of us needs to memorize.  Every single Christian should have this verse memorized.  And what does it say?  What did Peter say?  Peter said that “There is salvation in no one else for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”  There is no other name.  So Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, standing in the midst of 70 of the Jewish religious leaders, said, “There is no other name given by God by which we must all be saved.”  Not Abraham.  Not Isaac.  Not Jacob.  Not Moses.  Not David.  Not anyone.  There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.

That is a statement that you should keep at the forefront of your mind at all times.  That is a statement which defines who you are as a Christian and what you believe.  It also shows what separates followers of Jesus from every other world religion or spiritual person on this planet.  It is the belief that salvation is found in the name of Jesus Christ and in no other name.  Simply put.  This was Peter’s “gold-standard of greatness.”

And I want us to just press pause for a moment and apply this into our lives.  Because the truth is that in your life and mine we are going to have opportunities to stand before others and speak truth.  Truth that can change another person’s life forever.  And within Peter’s message here I see at least three truths we need to speak if we want to give a “gold-standard answer” to the people who will ask us questions like, “Who is Jesus?  Why is He important?  What has He done in your life for you?  And what could He do in my life for me?”

So very quickly here are three truths we can share that Peter shared here.  First of all, healing is available in the name of Jesus.  Healing is available.  The question asked of Peter was, “How was that man healed?  How was that man who had been lame from birth actually healed?”  And Peter’s answer?  The name of Jesus.  And the same is true for you and me.  When a person asks you, “How have you been healed?  How have you been healed from your addiction or your painful relationship or your financial hardship or your spiritual condition, the answer that should always be on the tip of our tongues is “Jesus”.  He is the One who can heal all of us.  He is the One who can heal every broken bone but also every broken relationship within our lives.  He is the One who is our Great Physician.  And if He has healed you of your bitterness or healed you of your brokenness or healed you of your spiritual blindness then you need to be able to tell people about that.  People need to hear that they can be healed.  And the way you and I do that is to tell them how we have been healed.  So before we go any further if you are a follower of Jesus just stop and think about the many ways in which Jesus has healed you.  Think about the brokenness from your past.  Whether it was personally, relationally, financially, or spiritually.  We’ve all been broken and we are all in many ways still broken.  Am I right?  Or do we have some perfect people in this room, right?  So Jesus has healed us but He continues to heal us.  And like Peter we need to be able to tell people that healing is available in Jesus.

Second, purpose is clarified in the name of Jesus.  Because Peter stated that Jesus is the cornerstone of our lives.  Jesus brings clarity and purpose to your life and mine.  Why were you created?  Why were you born?  What was the reason for why God created you?  Was it because the world needed another Teacher or Accountant or Mechanic?  Was it because the world needed another mother or father or grandmother or grandfather?  Or maybe it was that the world needed another gardener or golfer or fisher or in my case woodworker?  Right?  No.  You were created to glorify God.  You were given the gifts and talents that you were so that He would be glorified.  And you cannot glorify God if you do not build your life upon the foundation of Jesus.  He is the “chief cornerstone”.  He is the One we must build our faith upon.  He is the One we must build our life upon.  And when we do so we find meaning and purpose and value.  Because in Him we are all significant and important and special.  That was true of the religious leaders in those days and it’s true of the “religious people” in our day.  Your purpose in life and mine is clarified in the name of Jesus.

And then third and finally salvation is found in the name of Jesus.  Because Peter said in verse 12 that there is no other name given under heaven by which we must all be saved.  So if you and I want to receive salvation we must call upon the name of Jesus.  We must believe in the name of Jesus.  We must be baptized into the name of Jesus.  We must live for the name of Jesus.  And we must point others to how they can be saved through the name of Jesus.  It is the name of Jesus that saves.  It is only in the name of Jesus that we are saved.  And this morning if you have not given your life to Jesus and been baptized you have an opportunity to do so. The waters of baptism are ready for you.  Salvation is found in no other name.  So turn to Him.  Give your life to Him.  And the healing, meaning, purpose, and significance that you are looking for in life will be found.  Why?  Because as Peter said there is salvation in no other name.

Verses 13-22 then finishes this story.  Here’s what happens.  Verse 13 says:

13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus. 14 But seeing the man who was healed standing beside them, they had nothing to say in opposition. 15 But when they had commanded them to leave the council, they conferred with one another, 16 saying, “What shall we do with these men? For that a notable sign has been performed through them is evident to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. 17 But in order that it may spread no further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to anyone in this name.” 18 So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, 20 for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.” 21 And when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way to punish them, because of the people, for all were praising God for what had happened. 22 For the man on whom this sign of healing was performed was more than forty years old.

Alright.  So we’re told that when the religious leaders saw the boldness of Peter and John and recognized that they were ordinary, average, everyday, common men they were astonished.  They also looked and saw the lame man standing upright next to them.  And they recognized that these men had been with Jesus.  So they sent them out of the room and said to one another, “What are we going to do?  For a ‘notable sign’ has occurred.”  I find that interesting.  A “notable sign”.  No, it was a miracle!  But they just couldn’t say that.  They couldn’t admit that these men who had been with Jesus had been given the power of God to perform miracles!  So they said that a “notable sign” had been performed.  So they decided to just tell Peter and John not to speak in Jesus’ name.

And it’s interesting how Peter responds.  Because did you catch that?  He said, “Whether it’s right to obey you or God, that's for you to decide.  God has put you guys in charge of the spiritual health of our nation but He has told us to preach the name of Jesus.  So you figure out what’s right and what’s wrong.  But here’s the thing.  We cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.  We cannot stop testifying to what we have seen and heard.  We cannot stop being witnesses for Jesus.”  And when they had finished people began to praise God for what had happened and Luke tells us that the man who was healed was more than 40 years old.  I turn 50 soon.  So I can’t imagine what that would be like to be crippled for over 40 years and then suddenly be able to walk.

Amazing.  Years later Peter wrote a letter to Jewish exiles living in different parts of the world.  A letter we refer to as 1 Peter.  And in 1 Peter 3:15 Peter said this.  He said:

15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,

Peter said, “Honor Christ the Lord and always be prepared.  Always be ready to give a defense to anyone who asks you for the hope that is within you.  Always be ready.”  And I don’t know.  Part of me wonders if when Peter wrote those words he was reflecting back to the Day of Pentecost and the day he and John stood before the Sanhedrin and spoke up for Jesus?  And told them that there is no other name by which all must be saved?  

Maybe as he looked back upon his life he said to himself, “Those were the best moments of my life.  The times when the Holy Spirit empowered me and enabled me to speak for Jesus like never before.  That was when my example became one worth following and my message became a “gold-standard for greatness”.

Speaking of gold-standards of greatness I don’t know if you saw the news or what happened when the Team USA men’s hockey team returned home but as they did so news began to circulate about the faiths of these men.  For example, Tage Thompson who plays for the Buffalo Sabres shared in an interview before the Olympics that he came to faith at the age of 13.  He said, “That’s where my faith really started to turn from just going through the motions, and a title of being a Christian to understanding the actual relationship part of walking with Christ and the sacrifice that He made for all of us.”  He continued by saying, “I think when you take a step back and realize that God’s in control and He has a plan for you and His plan is far better than anything that we could ever imagine, you just kind of give it over to Him and sit back and enjoy the ride.”

But I really loved was what All-Star Defenseman Jaccob Slavin of the Carolina Hurricanes.  In speaking about Jesus he said, “He’s Lord of my life.  If He’s not Lord of everything, He’s not Lord at all.  He’s a gracious Friend.  I live my life because of Him and what He did for me.  My purpose in life, my purpose in my marriage, my purpose of being a father, it’s all to glorify Him because He’s worthy of that glory.”

Wow.  What a statement!  Here’s a gold medal hockey player who when given a chance to explain what drives him, what motivates him, and what makes him tick said, “It’s all about Jesus.  My purpose in my life, marriage, role as a father, it’s all to glorify Him.”  

Well said.  And well put.  Sounds a lot like Peter.  Sounds a lot like a person who when given a chance to share his faith spoke up about how he had found healing, purpose, and salvation in the name of Jesus.  That’s what the gold-standard of greatness looks like.  And that’s what it looks like to always be ready to declare that “there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”  That’s what it looks like to “always be ready to make a defense for the hope that is within you.”

They spoke up for Jesus when given a platform.  Will you do the same?  Will you be ready to share your faith with others?  The bottom line this morning is this…

Always be prepared to share both what Jesus has done and what He can do.

Let’s pray.

[Prayer:  For God to help us to be great for Jesus and to always be ready for Him.]

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